New Candidates for the Discovery of Antimicrobial Drugs
A special issue of Antibiotics (ISSN 2079-6382). This special issue belongs to the section "Novel Antimicrobial Agents".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 19
Special Issue Editors
Interests: cytotoxicity of drugs and drug-delivery systems; experimental chemotherapy; signal transduction; pharmacodynamics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: pathogenic bacteria; food-borne zoonozes; virulence factors; bacteria–host relationships; infectious immunology; molecular biology; ecology of pathogens; new antibacterial agents; antimicrobial resistance
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a daunting global public health threat in recent decades, with the rising prevalence of microorganisms resistant to one or more antimicrobial agents. This crisis underscores an urgent need to discover and develop novel natural-origin antimicrobial compounds to combat life-threatening bacterial, fungal, and viral infections, while also addressing pathogen resistance to current treatments and devising targeted therapeutic regimens. Antibiotics and antimicrobial chemotherapeutics remain the cornerstone of anti-infective care for patients in infectious disease, trauma, and intensive care units, yet their efficacy is plummeting globally due to the emergence of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) bacterial pathogens—turning bacterial infections into a critical concern. Additionally, curbing the spread of MDR pathogens in healthcare settings remains a formidable challenge, as these microorganisms are a major cause of healthcare-associated infections.
This Special Issue, “New Candidates for the Discovery of Antimicrobial Drugs”, focuses on novel, safe, and effective antimicrobial products/compounds derived from plant, microbial, and animal sources, including triterpenoids, alkaloids, phenols, flavonoids, antimicrobial peptides, metalloantibiotics, bacteriocins, and efflux pump inhibitors. We welcome original research, reviews, and short communications covering the following key topics: production, isolation, phytochemical characterization, and in vitro/in vivo activity of new natural antimicrobial metabolites; their pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics; discovery of new antimicrobial targets in resistant microorganisms and inhibition strategies; drug–drug interactions between natural compounds and clinical antibiotics to overcome AMR; enhanced antimicrobial potential and bioavailability via nanodelivery systems; toxicological evaluations and toxicity reduction of new natural antimicrobial agents; and natural agents for microbial decontamination in healthcare, food, and domestic settings. By integrating insights from microbiology, pharmacology, and translational research, this issue aims to accelerate the development of promising antimicrobial candidates and mitigate the AMR crisis. We look forward to your valuable contributions.
Dr. Maya Zaharieva
Prof. Dr. Hristo Najdenski
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Antibiotics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- antimicrobial resistance
- drug discovery
- natural antimicrobial compounds
- combination effects
- novel antimicrobial agents
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